


Pain Is Scary

by JAStitches



Category: Transformers: Prime
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eye Trauma, M/M, Old Married Couple, Physical hurt/comfort, Post-Episode: s01e16 Operation: Breakdown
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-08
Updated: 2017-02-08
Packaged: 2018-09-22 21:28:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9626036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JAStitches/pseuds/JAStitches
Summary: After his abduction by Silas and his MECH operatives, Breakdown tries and fails to conceal his injuries from Knock Out. Angry as the medic is, his partner's wounds take precedence over anything else.





	

The bruiser was seated on a medical slab, clumsily holding a rag to the right side of his faceplate in a way that suggested he was trying to staunch bleeding. He'd been fortunate enough that the ship's medic had been summoned elsewhere by the time he had stumbled in and made it to the slab; he wasn't quite ready for Knock Out to see this just yet. One of the medbay Eradicons wandered by, stopping short at the very sight of him and looking around before he spoke to the officer. "... Officer Breakdown? Are you in need of assistance? Should I find the Doct--"

"No!" Breakdown thundered, ripping the rag away from his face to reveal the messy wound where his optic had once been. When the medical assistant visibly recoiled in shock, his tone softened only slightly. "... No, I... I'm fine. ... it's 11-G-088, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"... Look, 11. Knock Out... he can't know about this yet, okay? He can't see this right now. I... need time. I need time to make up a cover. Maybe try to play it off like it was a mining accident or something."

"... I can take a look at it?" the medical assistant offered gently. "Clean it up a little?"

Breakdown was torn. On the one hand, this needed to be tended to, and the medbay assistant could be trusted to at least clean it. But on the other, if Knock Out walked in while he was working... no, it needed to be cleaned. He'd think up his excuse while the Eradicon was looking over his wound. "... Fine. Just... careful, okay?"

"Squeamish, sir?" The Eradicon laughed a little, trying and failing to keep the mood light. At the officer's silence, he cleared his vocal circuits and retrieved a wound cleaning kit from a nearby shelf. "Sorry. Do you need any painkillers?"

"Nah." Truthfully, it would've been nice; his pain receptors had kicked back on some time ago, but he had to keep playing it off. It was a crucial element to remaining calm right now. "Can you reach okay?"

"Yes, sir. Let me see..."

Breakdown leaned forward to let the assistant get a closer look and a better reach. The Eradicon poked at the socket with a set of tongs usually used to pick out shrapnel. "... can you retrieve your optic, sir? Do you know where it is? We have a Security guard we're releasing, I'm sure he would be happy to--"

"It's long gone by now," Breakdown sighed. "Doc's just gonna have to patch it best he can."

"Patch _what_ best I can?"

Knock Out's voice had drifted in from the doorway, and Breakdown tensed visibly, slapping a hand back over the side of his face before the medic could see what had happened to him. "Uh... hey, Doc... Uh... um... don't you... have other patients? 11-G here can handle this..."

"His time is better spent in triage where he is needed. We have incoming casualties from a mining accident." No sooner had Knock Out finished speaking the word "accident" did the doors close behind the Eradicon as he made himself scarce. Now left entirely alone with the larger mech, the medic apparently had no reason not to say exactly what he was thinking.

"Do you have _any_ idea how _worried_ I was? What Starscream and the others were saying?" After a short pause, he sighed lightly. "Now. Is there something you want to tell me?"

"... uh... see, there was a... um, a mining accident--"

"Don't even try it, Breakdown."

"... they call themselves... MECH, I think. They're humans... that... I don't even know what they want. One klik, I'm beating the scrap outta Bulkhead... and the next they... they got me strapped down. Tools and drills and saws all over the place..."

That was when Knock Out crossed the room, his angry quick-walk closing the distance between them faster than Breakdown could construct the rest of his explanation. Freshly-manicured claws closed around his raised wrist, but no effort was yet made to remove his hand. When Knock Out spoke again, his voice was flat. "What did they do to you."

"Knock Out, I'm really fine--"

"You most certainly are not fine -- what is _that_. Is that a crack?" Knock Out's optics had turned down toward Breakdown's chest, possibly because a medic's first instinct was always to check the spark chamber.

"... It's a seam, you know that. I've always had that."

"Breakdown--" Knock Out's grip tightened on his partner's wrist, catching him off-guard enough that he was able to pull his hand away from his face, revealing the messy gouge that Breakdown had once happily called a right optic.

For a long, tense moment, they were both silent.

Knock Out's features, usually flawless and smooth, twisted and contorted into some horrible expression that Breakdown could never remember having seen before. The closest he'd ever looked to ugly. His spark burned and stung with shards of Knock Out's rage, mixing with his own fear and pain in a way that nearly made him want to purge his tanks. He looked away before Knock Out could get too good a look at the socket. His massive form shuddered, and his hand squirmed out of Knock Out's grasp to grip the edge of the slab in a panic.

"... I... they... they... opened me up. Poked around. They said they... said they were studying me... but..." He looked back up only slightly, his face turned further upward by Knock Out's claws resting gently beneath his chin. The doctor's expression had softened only slightly, but even with his now-impaired vision, Breakdown could still see the burning fury behind those ruby optics. "... I-I shouldn't've gone alone... should've taken back-up... couple Eradicons or something--"

"You stop that now." Knock Out turned the larger mech's face ever-so-slightly in order to get a better look at the damaged socket. The mesh around his mouth twisted sideways in a frown as the rest of his face settled into concentration, rather than anger. "... you must be in agony."

"... it doesn't hurt that bad," he lied. However, his next statement, spoken as one hand reached out for Knock Out, not caring what part of him his fingers latched onto, was the complete and honest truth. "... I... I was real scared, Doc..."

" _Shhh_. You're perfectly safe now." The medic nudged their foreheads together affectionately, keeping them pressed close for much longer than he normally would have when they could've been seen. "It's going to be alright. Lay back, let me take a look."

Breakdown obeyed, leaning back on the slab and clenching his fists tensely. He could feel the rage ebbing out of his spark, the stubborn remnants of its heat being washed away by soothing pulses of pure, unfiltered love across the bond between their sparks. The medic popped up in the corner of the bruiser's vision, and as his face became more clear, Breakdown could see the shorter mech's optics tracing over the wounds left in the blue plating, cataloging each one and mentally working out the quickest way to repair them. "What did this?"

"... Not sure. Didn't wanna look."

" _Feh_ , sloppy. I've seen cleaner maulings." Knock Out shook his head, noting the jagged cut in Breakdown's chest again and frowning again. He tapped the center of the bruiser's chestplates gently with the very tip of one claw. "Open up for me."

Once his chestplates were opened, Knock Out studied the damage to the internal mechanisms, and Breakdown wasn't sure whether he was relieved or frightened when the medic laughed. But, his next statement, and the sparkle of amusement that crossed between their sparks, shifted the scale more toward the relieved end. "Whatever they were using was lucky to even get through your plating; your digits gouge better than this."

"Heh, you'd know, right, Doc?" Breakdown reached out to rest his fingertips on the red mech's lower abdomen.

That earned him an amused chuckle from Knock Out, and an affectionate pat on the head as his fingers were removed and set back down on the slab. "Now now, you naughty thing, I'm working. Most of this won't take me very long to fix, I'll need to solder and fill these cuts, see what I can do about the damage to the latches. But your optic, that's going to take a bit longer..."

Having walked into Breakdown's blind spot as he spoke, Knock Out could be heard flitting back and forth to the shelf for tools. But, hearing that wasn't the same as seeing him. Touching him would be preferable, but not if he was going to be working. When the medic either moved away or stood still, making no sound at all, Breakdown began to panic again, not caring whether or not it was irrational. "Knock Out?!"

"I'm right here." His voice was slightly farther away than Breakdown would've liked. But, his quick response was comfort enough for now, as was the fresh pulse of calming affection caressing his spark. "Not going anywhere."

"... can you stay where I can see you?" he asked, immediately feeling foolish for doing so.

Knock Out's light footsteps crossed back around to Breakdown's good side, claws resting gently on his forehead. "I have to be on your other side so I can work. If you'd like, I can get one of the Eradicons to stand here where you can see them."

"... not the same."

"I can ask them to track my movements for you, so you know where I am."

"No."

"Then I'm afraid you'll have to trust me. I understand if that may be a lot to ask right now." Knock Out's claws brushed gently along the side of Breakdown's face. "But I think you can manage it."

Breakdown caught his wrist quickly, gripping it tightly as panic seized his spark again. " _No_."

"I have to clean the socket out before rust sets in." His free hand gestured to someone that Breakdown couldn't see, and he spoke slightly louder to address them. "I need a cleaning kit and mesh patches off of the shelf there. _Not_ the triage-grade, the heavy ones."

It was, presumably, a medbay assistant, if Knock Out was ordering them to retrieve things for him. After a moment, Breakdown heard them approach on his other side, set something down on the work surface beside the slab, and walk away.

"There. With that taken care of, I don't need to go very far," Knock Out explained gently. "But, I'm going to have to walk around your other side to work now."

"... what're you gonna do?"

"Well, I'll have to clean out the socket, fix the mesh around it, seal off the lines, see what I can do about the back of the socket to protect the nerves and receptors. I'd prefer to put you under an anesthetic to do it; it'll take quite some time."

"... no. I don't wanna go into stasis. What if I wake up and this is some kinda sick dream I'm having while those human insects crawl around in my chamber and you're gone? I don't want you to be gone..."

Knock Out sighed, pressing a quick kiss to Breakdown's unharmed cheek. "I'm not going anywhere, Breakdown. You're perfectly safe. Will you settle for an inhibitor clip? The damage is extensive, and I don't quite believe that you don't feel any pain at all right now."

"... light?"

"This is going to require a medium-light at best. You'll be a little foggy. But you will be awake."

That was the best he was going to get, it seemed. But he did nod, and let go of Knock Out's hand, allowing it. "... they said they attacked and injured a rescue party... wasn't any of ours, turns out, but... I was so scared they hurt you..."

"No one's harmed me, _mein Schatz_. Look up for me."

He did so, and the inhibitor was clipped into a port just beneath Breakdown's jaw. In moments, the bruiser started to feel his face go numb, and his head go foggy. He wasn't far gone enough that he couldn't feel the pressure of Knock Out working on the socket, feeling gentle scrapes and tugs against the mesh inside of it. But at least it didn't hurt. His jaw felt heavy when he spoke, but he tried it anyway. "... Knock Out?"

"Yes?" His voice sounded far away, echoing in Breakdown's foggy mind. But the tugs and scrapes reassured him that the doctor was still close, and the faint pulses of emotion in his spark served to more effectively ground him to the present.

"... I love you..."

"I love you, too."

**Author's Note:**

> I've been writing fanfiction online for over seven years, and I have still not figured out an appropriate place to put author's notes. This is a heavily-edited rewrite of a story called "Comfort" from my fanfiction dot net profile, published in December of 2013 because I was over a season late to Transformers: Prime. I've been rereading a lot of stories on that profile, and have been less-than-pleased with them, so this is likely the first of many edits, rewrites, and transfers to this account.
> 
> Fun fact: The medbay Eradicons and the security guard are actual original Eradicon characters in the tumblr Transformers roleplay community: medbay Eradicons tranquilfingers and spiritualhealerz-014c, and security guard typingblind. Additionally, my take on Knock Out is partly influenced by the way he is portrayed on the highglossfinish blog, including the German term of endearment toward the end. References to the original characters were made with permission from their writers.


End file.
